Whirlwind...

July?... what happened to May and June?...

To say that the start to our 2027 season has been a whirlwind would be an understatement.

A harsh winter and slow-to-warm spring led the ice to linger at camp far longer than normal, and far, far longer than myself and our first week guests would have liked.

Finally enough open water to land!

In a typical year, the ice gives way to open water in the first or second week of May. We usually plan to arrive on May 15 and that gives up a solid week or more before our first guests arrive.

Not this year.

Lots of back and forths with groups who were supposed to be our opening week guests finally led to forced cancellations for the whole week of 5/24 – 5/31.  

Maria was making daily flights over camp and we finally got a window on Wednesday, 5/27 when there was enough open water in front of camp to get ourselves in.

A Superior Airways Otter was only a few hours behind us. But, in the meantime, ice to the south had drifted into our “runway” and required me to deploy our ice breaker: the SS. 1986 Lund Garbage Boat.

The strategy worked, and Maria, myself, and new pilot, Paul, along with 2000 lbs of supplies were all in camp by late afternoon on 5/27.

Easy enough to tip them back up, the door 
repairs were another story...

The next week’s guests were all still green lit for a Sunday flight in. This left us with 4 camps to open in 3.5 days.

The openings, albeit rushed, were otherwise unremarkable. Things weathered the winter in good fashion. There was just one exception: Apparently a bear decided to forage in the cabin at Southwest for a final meal before his winter’s nap late last fall, or broke in in a fit of rage and hunger pangs early this spring, and got into arguments with several items in the cabin in his journey. He ripped out every screen in the building, knocked over and ripped the doors off the fridges and freezers, then chewed through aerosol cans of bug repellent and oven cleaner. Thankfully those must not have tasted great and he left what was remaining of the cabin alone.

Lake levels were incredibly high to start the season. Obviously water temps were COLD.

Everything fishing behavior-wise has seemed to be about 10-14 days behind "normal" . Guests through about June 12 were finding still milting / egg laden and then post-spawn walleyes. The action was a little slow as the fish had other things in mind, but those wrapped up with the spawn congregated near any moving water in great numbers, as the high water swept down all sorts of forage. Some big pike were found co-mingling with the walleye and some whitefish too. 

To be fair and descript: the Big Hook definition of "a little slow" was 2419 fish for a group of 6 June 7 - 14. But that is down from their recent trips here. 

Contrary to what one might expect, many early season guests were saying fish were most responsive to BIGGER presentations. Using 4-5” tails was secret for some.

A few notable lures that produced: last week’s group at West Lake caught a 44” pike on the trusty yellow and red “5 of Diamonds”. A group previous to them at West boated a 27” walleye on a slightly modified, and no longer produced lime green Erie Dearie. And a mid-June group at South boated 20walleyes over 26” all on 1/4oz jigs tailed with Powerbait Ripple Shads.

As of writing the fish seem to be finally catching up, grouping up, and moving to humps and submerged boulders.

Weeds and grasses are beginning to develop, but still fairly stunted for early July.

Mayflies are yet to make and appearance, but mosquitos sure have. Guests with an upcoming trip are urged to take any and all mosquito measures possible.

We’re so excited to be in the full swing of things up here and settle in a little (finally).

A happy Canada Day to all those north of the border and happy 4^th of July for all of those south!

Good times and good fishing to everyone, R. 

Careful What You Fish For…

Central Lake Hog!

Greetings from dreary, ol’ Ontario. It has been a wet, wet week up here at Big Hook with 3” of rain in the gauge and counting. But, this rain was much needed and much hoped for. Our water levels have been historically low and the wildfire situation around Canada has been terrible, as most everyone is aware. Thankfully, the rain hitting us now is covering giant swaths of the prairie regions and NW Ontario. The fires across much of Canada have been nearly licked. This week’s guests at Big Hook are certainly putting their rain gear to the test, however.

Despite some inclement weather, the fishing since our last report has been stupendous. There have been dozens of trophy fish of both primary target species caught and released… and one trophy clam I am told.

Water temps seemed to have peaked sometime in late July or early August in the low 70’s. With the rain and cooler than seasonal weather, the surface temps are now about 66 degrees and trending downward.

2x's Trophies at South

Fish have been fairly deep – about 10 – 15’ is where most are finding walleye, but a few deeper holes have been holding some big and hungry fish. A recent group at South Lake boated an amazing DOZEN walleye over 25” in one DAY!

Pike fishing has been on fire too with a recent Central Lake group that couldn’t keep big fish off the line - boating 12 fish over 36” during their trip. Trophy reports also came out of West, Cocos, and Burnt Lakes.

The days are getting noticeably shorter as we are losing about 6 minutes of daylight each tick of the calendar. I am excited to take in some northern lights whenever the rain clouds subside. The fall-like weather notwithstanding, it is hard to believe that we only have 3 weeks left of our operational season. Summer is very short around here. But very sweet also.

One housekeeping note, our 2026 calendar is filling up quickly! If a trip to Big Hook for 2026 might be in the cards, please reach out
soon to get your choice of week / lake.

All Smiles!

Savor summer while you can – it’ll be over before we know it.

Till next time, R

Fireworks!

            July is a special time of the year for many.

West Lake Football

            The gathering of friends and family and celebrations continue to peak here in Opasquia. This week will likely be our busiest of the summer with several groups in camp that are dear friends, many mulit-generational family trips, and some honoring those that can no longer make the journey – bringing granddad’s cooler or tacklebox and some photos of the “old guys” in the “old days” to share also.

It’s an important time for the local eco-system too, as the sun’s energy is turned into biomass at an amazing rate. You can almost watch the trees, shrubs, and grass grow. I’ve had to trim the trees on some of our walking paths several times of the past few weeks - they just keep growing back. The weed beds in the lakes have bloomed like crazy. Every member of the food chain seems ravenous, as many are aware this peak won’t last
long.

To say the fishing has been "great" wouldn’t do it justice. Stories of incredible catches abound from all our locations. I got a hug the other night from a group at Central after they boated their 8^th trophy pike in just two days of fishing.

Central Lake: fish longer 
than the fisherman

Reports of trophy walleye and pike from all the camps seem to be the norm. South Lake boated a 28.5” walleye yesterday. West Lake’s outbound group said their biggest pike was just under 40” and they had numerous 22 – 28” walleyes. I didn’t get tallies from Cocos, but that group of regulars mentioned that “it just keeps getting better.”

Top water lures have taken over as the favorite bait for our pike fisherman with several stories of leaping fish smashing buzz baits and Whopper Ploppers. The old, trusty Silver Minnow has gotten a lot of attention too.

Folks targeting walleye have been finding them in 10 – 15’ of water and have been using medium depth crank baits and jigs / twister tails with great success.

We are fortunate to not have any active fires currently in close proximity to any of our locations, but many fires continue to burn across Canada and a perfectly clear day has been rare as of late. It just depends on which way the winds are blowing as to what fire(s) we are getting smoke from. Hoping for more rain for all of northern Canada sometime soon.

Lake levels have held surprisingly steady. I would say low, but still in the “normal” category.

A hog out of the Fishbowl

            Our mayfly hatch this year was sporadic with the first waves coming much earlier than I expected (end of June), and hatches here and there that lasted for about two weeks. With how spotty they were, fishing did not seem to be affected much.

It’s hard to believe that we are now in the last week of July. Enjoy the peak of summer while you can, everyone – many of us wait all year for this!

Till next time: good fishing and good times, R.

South Lake Sunset

Revved up…

West Lake walleye!

As we stare down the third week of June, we now have all the camps open and full. It’s always a good feeling when the opening work is done. Now we can transition to upkeep and improvements - and maybe sneak in a little fishing ourselves.

Most all of our cabins and facilities wintered well. Southwest, the last to open, came with the most challenges. An angry bear seemed to have taken out his angst on the cabin, tearing out every screen and also a good portion of the plumbing and sewer lines. Mother nature (at least I hope it was wind and not the bear) also toppled over a giant tree that we found leaning in the path the airplanes need to taxi / dock. Fortunately, all were fairly easy fixes and with a few swipes of the chainsaw and some replacement pipes, all our camps were fully operational.

The weather has been all over the place since my last report (it was snowing at that time). We’ve had hot, cold, mist, snow, wind, calm, smoke, clouds, and sun. What we haven’t had much of is rain. Fortunately, there is some in the forecast, which would be very welcomed.

Adam considers a jump into the lake. 

I’ve fielded several inquiries about the fire situation up here. As many may have read about in the news, Sandy Lake was evacuated due to a fire that started near Deer Lake, another First Nations community about 40 miles SW of Sandy Lake. That fire traveled very quickly and burnt more than 700 square miles of terrain. Fortunately, it stopped just a few kilometers away from Sandy Lake, which was evacuated as a precaution. While the fire isn’t completely out it is substantially subdued, getting just enough precipitation and favorable winds.

Closer to home, we did have a fire that started due to a lightning strike just outside the SW boundary of Opasquia Provincial Park. It was nearest to our Burnt Lake cabin. That fire gave myself and a few guests at Burnt a little bit of a fright, but again, we thankfully received just enough rain to tamp it down and winds that have not allowed it to travel any closer to our camps.

Toothy smiles!

Significant rain is expected in the next few days and will hopefully put out both fires entirely.

The fishing hot spots have been slightly unpredictable, but after a little searching, the catches have been predictably outstanding. With low later levels a lot of the small feeder creeks, typical June go-to spots, have not been producing quite like they normally do. With the water temps still pretty cold (surface temps are just starting to break 60F), fish are still relating to shallow mud flats and large boulders that soak up the sun. Most are being found in 4-8’ of water.

Some highlights so far include a 43” pike and several more in the upper 30’s at West Lake. A few 27” walleyes were boated at West Lake also. This week’s group at South Lake already has 10+ trophy walleye, the largest measuring 28.5”. A 40” pike started the tally at Central on week one, and since, guests have pulled in several around that length and at least one 28” walleye. This week’s guests at Southwest lost count of their fish by Sunday afternoon (their first day on the water). Cocos also had a few large pike on the “brag board”.  

Sunny skies and walleyes...

Hot baits and lures have included: Mepp’s Black Fury Spinners, orange jig heads tipped with Berkley Power Minnows and Ripple Shad, and Storm Hot N Tot’s in metallic gold and chartreuse.

I’ve only gotten a handful of photos back from guests so far this year. If you were recently fishing with us and want show off a fish or two, I, our incoming guests, and those that can no longer join us, love seeing your photos! Please don’t be shy 😉.

It’s great to be in the full swing of things and looking forward to most of the summer ahead. We have had a few random cancelations, so if you are thinking of a late hour trip, please reach out and we’ll see if any of them might suit.

Otherwise, have a great summer and good luck on the water everyone!

 

  

And so it begins!

The countdown to Big Hook’s 2025 season opener is down to the single digits (8 days)!

I was able to make into camp on May 15th and was welcomed with freezing rain, sleet, and snow.

Central Lake seems to have wintered well, and the power, water, woodstove, and internet all came online with ease. The sauna is the next facility to get up and running. I am taking a break from outside tasks and warming up inside in the meantime.

There have been several folks asking about how things look, so thought I’d take advantage of a little office time and get out a report. 

I can’t offer details on the fishing – I’ll need a helping hand to get some boats in the water (Maria and Adam are stuck and waiting on the weather in Winnipeg and Red Lake respectively). But, the trees are starting to bud (usually a sign that the walleye bite should commence shortly) and with warmer, more spring-like weather in the forecast, I have to believe the fish will be active and hungry once we get a little sunshine.

The water levels look average to slightly above for this time of year. The ground was saturated prior to the storm. Now, with probably near an inch of snow / water equivalent, I expect them to come up a little more as this precip. all melts and finds its way into our waterways. A good start.

There have been several forest fires already in NW Ontario. None of them are close to our operations (nor should impact guests traveling thereto), but unfortunately have affected some communities and outfitters elsewhere in the region. Hopefully this same weather extinguishes, or at least significantly tamps these down.

Good luck to those braving the elements on the Ontario fishing opener today – we’re looking forward to joining you shortly!

We’ll be busy with the business of opening all the camps through the next few weeks, but hopefully I’ll have a more substantive fishing report soon.

Happy “summer” everyone!

Ryan 

Warmth in the forecast!

Ripp adding to the downed lumber
on the boardwalk. 

CATCH you later....

It’s hard to believe, but we are wrapped up for the 2024 season at Big Hook!

Texas takes on Central Lake

It seems that summer always goes too fast; the later half of this one felt like a time warp. I guess it’s also true, time flies when you are having fun.

And it was a very fun late season, with just one caveat – the fire that continued to burn for weeks on end, threatening both the Burnt Lake and Cocos Lake cabins. Fortunately, both were sparred thanks to the hard work of the Ontario MNR firefighters and a little luck / help from up above. Quenching rains came just as the fire was about a mile southwest of Cocos and nearing 50,000 acres.

August often brings northern light shows

The extremely dry weather this summer led to lake levels at record lows – down about 4’ from normal at all our locations. Hopefully it’s a snowy winter in NW Ontario so we can start off 2025 closer to average – it will make the snowmobilers happy in Red Lake and Sandy Lake too.

Fishing remained outstanding through the end. Maria, Adam, and I were able get out and test the product some as we pulled portage motors, buoys, and the windsock at Central and found dense schools of walleye. It was easy work pulling in the last, unlucky, to-be-fried fish of the summer. Late season guests did well with both walleye and pike, as their metabolism is still peaked and they put on lbs. for the cold months ahead (the fish, not the fisherman).

In late August we saw a few days with heavy winds. During this cycle, the pike seemed to be relating to rocky points, probably hunting weary and tired prey fish worn out from fighting the currents. I witnessed one trophy fish being pulled up on a ½ oz. bucktail jig. Before and after the wind event, top water action was busy as ever.

West Lake 30"er!

Several trophy pike were boated in early September at West Lake on green and red Rapalas and June Bug spinners.

As noted, the walleyes were grouped up in massive schools and feeding heavily. One group at Central reported floating atop a gentle drop-off leading from a sheltered bay to bigger water and catching “hundreds of 18”- 20” walleye” at about 20’.

Several moose sightings were reported at Southwest, West, and South Lakes. On one of our forays around Central, Maria, Adam, and I spotted a wolf walking the shore – a first for me in Canada!

With the closing of the camps and the departure of our last guests comes a lot of projects that have been on the to-do list. The foundation at Burnt Lake kept us busy for a few days. Frost heaves there shoved the cabin forward – as if the threat off fire wasn’t enough. It’s better than new now, however. West Lake saw a new set of stairs and new chimney pipe installed. Southwest Lake got a new refrigerator, some power system upgrades, and brush cutting. Cocos also got a lot of brushing work done in addition to a heli-pad for the MNR helicopters (so they didn’t have to continue hovering on our dock - see pic). And, the solar installation at South Lake is now complete, making all of our locations operate primarily on renewables (there’s still a generator backup at each location too). The last northbound planes heading up to fly out our final guests of the year delivered several brand-new outboards that we will be eager to fire up in 2025.

MNR firefighting helicopter at Cocos

My most sincere thanks to all our guests and my staff that made this summer possible. It was one for the memory books. We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for all of you.

We are now taking reservations for all of 2025! There are some great weeks still available for the second half of summer. Please reach out you’d like more details. “Quit wishin’ and come fishing“ as they say. Thanks again everybody for an outstanding 2024! We’re looking forward to 2025 already. Have a happy fall and winter in the meantime, Ryan

Another hog from South Lake

Final flight of the year for the 2024 Big Hook staff

Awesome August...

It’s been go, go, go since our last post with nary a rainy day to hunker down and write a proper report. 

The second half of summer has been hot and dry with high chances of heavy fish.

Central Lake Trophy Walleye

Lots of great specimens have been boated since our last update. A 44” pike among other tanks out of West Lake, several 40+” pike and football shaped walleye out of Central, photo worthy fish and huge numbers at Cocos and Southwest, and at least FORTY trophy walleye (and several trophy pike) out of South Lake in the last month! Needless to say there’s been lots of big smiles.

The fish seem to be everywhere. Reports of gangbuster catches in anything from 3’ to 28’ of water for both walleye and pike have come in. Walleye have been found on shallow reefs, deep holes, and in the weed beds too. I can attest to the same after getting on the water yesterday afternoon – I was sight fishing walleye on a mid-bay hump in 3 – 5’ of water and then caught them at 22’ a short boat ride away. We also had top water walleye strikes while throwing bucktails and buzz baits for pike. The walleye are hungry! The pike were incredibly aggressive too, latching on to every 4^th or 5^th cast. A pair of brothers at Central last week boated both of these monsters. 

You’ll notice Burnt Lake is left out of the reports. Unfortunately, we’ve had to shut down operations there for the past few weeks as a large wildfire has picked up in intensity nearby. The cabin looks to be safe, but the shoreline that burnt in 2011 (taking the old cabin with it) has reburned along with several thousand acres to the north along the Manitoba border. We are hoping the weather pattern will change by next week and we will start to get some precipitation. Pilot Adam spent much of yesterday washing and waxing the airplane to try and coax in a sprinkle. Also of note, the water is down in all lakes about 4 feet from normal – currently the lowest I have ever seen it.

Central Lake Trophy Pike

The dry weather has led to a bumper blueberry crop, but the raspberries have been almost non-existent.

Numerous wildlife sightings continue with the moose starting to move. Bears have been seen (thankfully) far away from camp munching in berry patches. A troublesome squirrel with a sweet tooth has been harassing anyone with a candy bar at West Lake (rehoming efforts are currently underway). We got a great show of the blue, super moon last night, and northern light sightings are starting to become more common as the days grow a little shorter (current sunset at 8:30 pm with darkness setting in around 9:00pm).

It's hard to believe we only have another few weeks of the season to go. BUT, we’ll look to savor my favourite time of year up here with gold leaves beginning to emerge, some fantastic fishing no doubt, and (hopefully) a few rainy days to quench the fire.

Smoke rises from the Burnt Lake fire. 

Good luck and happy fishing,

Ryan